Contezmoi Vos Malheures
by littlelostsecert
Summary: DEADLIEST CATCH Its been hard on both of the Harris boys since the loss of their father, and Jake grieves the only way he knows how; booze and drugs. After a few DUIs and Hit and Runs, Josh realizes that his brother needs help. T for now, may change...
1. Chapter 1

**Please thank chanqsquawkzhang for taking the time to co-write this with me. **

**Alrighty, here we go...**

**DISCLAIMER: We do not own the real people that this is based off of**. **The only things we own are Rory and the events that take place within this fiction. . eventhough some of us may wish we did own them...**

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"This school hasn't changed at all." Rory Durmot said looking back at Monroe High, the building she had been stuck in for the last twelve hours. A call had come in at her office last week from the school, they had asked her if she would mind coming in and talking to the kids about different types of counseling and therapy, more specifically grief counseling. The school itself had lost four different seniors that year so far to car accidents, and alcohol abuse; and thought it'd make it somewhat easier if the children knew there was help.

Checking her watch she realized that it was 7:30, later then what she had hoped. The next morning she was supposed to hop on a plane to make it to a convention in Baltimore, Maryland, the convention was centered on people who had coped with their grief and to encourage others to do so as well.

Rory hopped into her car and pulled out of the parking lot. It was starting to get dark and she still had a long night of packing ahead of her. She slowly came to a stop at the red light at the end of the block, and pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the messages.

Suddenly, a bright red car zoomed by her. She looked up, startled, surprised that the cars behind her had not honked if the light was green. The light was still red. Odd. "Why did that car go by, then if the light was still red?" she thought to herself. Hoping it wasn't some crazy drunk teenager, she slowly drove home.

Sighing, Rory threw the rest of her clothes into the suitcase on the bed, already stuffed past full. Her cell phone chirped and she reached for it wearily. The caller ID read Mom. "Ugh, not again..."She muttered darkly.

The relationship between the two was not good. Her mother disapproved of her profession, refusing to pay her tuition when she was in college, and even more strongly against her single status. "I was married to your father when I was 18! You don't even have a boyfriend! Get one before you are old and ugly!" she would rant. Rory thought of the endless blind dates that had been set up by her mother, each ending disastrously.

"Hello?" she answered the phone sighing slightly. Moving the phone she cradled it between her shoulder and ear so she could attempt to zip close her suitcase.

"Hey hunny. How are you?" Her mom replied. Then not even waiting for her daughters reply, continued to talk. "I heard that you'll be flying over to the east coast in the morning. And you weren't even going to tell your poor mother. I just don't know what I'm going to do with you out of town, I just get so lonely."

"Mom." Rory sighed again slowly shaking her head as she listened to her mom talk on.

"Oh don't 'mom' me young missy. **I **think it's about time you tried settling down for once. Fine yourself a decent young man, and give me some grandchildren. When I was your age you were hitting your 5 th birthday, there is just no reason for you to still be single. Wait, you are interested in boys aren't you? Oh no! My baby's a lesbian! How will I live with myself, I know I wasn't always the perfect mother to you but please don't tell me." Rory quickly cut her mother off before she could continue,

"No mom, I'm not. There's no need to worry over me. I had every intention of telling you I was leaving," a little lie never hurt anyone she thought to herself, "and its just I haven't found anyone worth taking my time to be with, not that its any of your concern." Rory shook her head and did a last inventory check as she glanced around her room. With everything seeming to already be packed, she picked up her suitcase and set it down next to the door so all shed have to do is grab it on her way out.

"Mom, I'm sorry and all. But I have to go I still have a few things I got to do before I leave and honestly I cant do this right now, okay? I love you." Without even waiting for an answer she hung up and tossed the phone onto the loveseat.

Promptly at 6:30 the next morning, Rory crawled out of bed and mentally prepared herself for the days travel to the convention. She grabbed her bag, a large thermos of coffee and a bag of cereal before driving to the airport in Seattle, yawning. Going through security was a breeze, and before she knew it, she was on the plane to Maryland, wedged between two rather good-looking men. She had asked for an aisle seat, but she decided that this seating arrangement might not be so bad. The one on her left looked real intense. He had jet-black hair and dark eyes. The one on her right seemed softer, quieter, and almost timid. He didn't say a word, even when the flight attendant came by with snacks and drinks. He only stared out the window intently, as if there was anything to stare at. The heavy gray clouds formed a solid angry mass. The man on her right looked tough, but fell asleep before the plane even took off.

Rory pulled out her ipod, ready to play solitaire for the entirety of the seven-hour flight to Baltimore. However, before she could fully immerse herself in the mindless game, the intense guy sitting next to her decided to start drumming on the folding table.

When Rory looked at him, he apologized, "Sorry 'bout that. I guess I'm just antsy today; going to a grief convention tomorrow…" he trailed off.

"In Baltimore?" Rory inquired, surprised. "I'm headed there too! I'm one of the speakers. My names Rory Durmot" She held out her hand to shake and he grasped it firmly. "Josh Harris." He replied with an impish grin "Crabber on the Bering Sea aboard the Cornelia Marie"

"I'm sorry if this seems rude, but may I ask how you came about going to the convention?" She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, glancing inquiringly at Josh.

Before he could give a proper answer the man on her other side got up suddenly, "Excuse me."

"Um, sure." Rory shifted slightly to give him room to pass her. She watched him make his way back to the bathroom before switching her attention back to Josh. Noticing that he was still watching the bathroom the other man had entered with a slightly worried look. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure anymore." He answered, rubbing his face tiredly. The flight attendant passed by again stopping shortly to see if they needed anything at the moment. "Can I get a screwdriver please?" With a sidelong glance at Josh, Rory asks for one as well.

The flight attendant served them within minutes, and left to assist someone towards the back who had called out, leaving Josh and Rory to their drinks. After taking a sip Josh turned back to Rory to answer her question from earlier. "My dad died back in February, and my brother isn't coping as well as I am and I'm worried about him." He gives another glance towards the bathroom. "He's got some issues that I think he needs to face and I'm hoping that at the convention some of them will be."

The bathroom door opened and the man worked his way back to his seat under the watchful eye of Josh. Rory realized that he must be Josh's brother. With a closer look she realized that his eyes seemed a little more bloodshot then she remembered when she first saw him. As he got to the aisle Rory shifted herself again so he could easily pass by to his seat. But as he went to step by he stumbled and fell towards Rory. Josh and Rory both reached out to steady him, but he had already caught himself on the back of her chair.

"Sorry." He mumbled before he settled himself down into his chair.

"Jake…?" questioned Josh "What have you been up to?"

"Mehh…nuttin…" Jake muttered in reply. Josh frowned. He raised his eyebrow at his brother, but silence was the only response as Jake returned to staring at the clouds.

Josh and Rory's conversation started up again, lasting for the rest of the flight. They talked about their families, and their interests and jobs. Josh turned out to be very different from Rory; while Rory tended to be quiet and logical, Josh was loud and forward in every aspect of his life. His job crabbing on the Bering Sea was an adrenaline-filled adventure that he clearly enjoyed. Rory listened intently to his stories about many a late night crabbing party gone wild. One such tale that she found particularly amusing was the one where a certain Norwegian skipper got into an argument with Josh's father, Phil over crabfarts. "Crabfarts?" inquired Rory "What does that have to do with crabbing?"

Laughing, Josh replied, "According to the old man, crabs have gas, and when you can smell the farts and see the bubbles on the water, you know you've landed on the crab"

Rory laughed too. "Your old man must've been something special" she remarked. Turning somber, she commented "it must be real hard now that he's gone…"

"Definitely…" Josh said solemnly, glancing sidelong at his brother who had stopped staring out the window and begun to sleep, earbuds blaring in his ears, loud enough that Rory could tell what he was listening to.

Josh grimaced in disgust, pulling the earbuds out gingerly, leaning awkwardly over Rory. "Sorry, I just can't stand how loud these are…and they must be killing his eardrums…" He winced as Jake twitched and woke, glaring at Josh. He only returned it with a stern look, while Rory tried to look the other way.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Haha! second chapter done! lol anyway still should thank chanqsquawkzhang for co-writing this with me, and disclaimers back at chapter one.**

**things are still serious, as they probly will be the whole majority of the story. As for is it Josh or Jake.. have no fear its complete intentions being Jake just gotta work up to it, unless both of us decide to change it to Josh. So with no further adue... read on my lovelies**

There was a soft crackle from above as one of the flight attendants made the announcement that they would be landing shortly, and that they should secure all lose articles. It wasn't' too long before that both the men beside her had fallen asleep and Rory felt bad at having to wake them. With a sigh she turned to Josh first, shaking his shoulder lightly, "Come on Josh, time to get up. The plane's about to land." His head lolled towards her resting at an uncomfortable angle as his eyes fluttered open. Rory couldn't help but laugh at how childlike he looked just now.

Josh blinked a few times rubbing his eyes and doing a few stretches before he turned to Rory giving her an amused look, "What do you think your laughing at?" He quickly poked her in the side causing her to gasp and jump a little. "Okay, okay! I give." Rory said trying to push herself away from him, only to realize at the last moment she was basically in jakes seat by now. Before she could pull herself back into her own seat a pair of arms had snaked around her waist securely holding her in place.

Rory glanced worriedly over her shoulder surprised to see that Jake was still asleep. She looked back at Josh to find that he had confusion and worry written across his face. "Um…. Do you need some help?" Josh asked her giving the arms around her waist a momentary glance.

"I think I got this." She gave a light chuckle before turning around completely to face Jake.

Gently, she lifted one arm and folded it back into Jake's seat. Rory then gingerly twisted around to untangle the other arm. However, this time, since the arm was behind her back, she couldn't reach it completely or gently enough. Jake trembled, whimpering.

"That's it." Josh stated matter-of-factly. "I'm gonna just wake him up. He's been having nightmares. If I don't get him up, he is gonna start screaming…" He promptly shook his brother awake. Detangling himself from his brother's grip, Jake muttered incoherently. "What was that?" Josh commanded.

"Meeeh" Jake yawned, shivering. "Thanks"

"What was it about this time?" Josh demanded.

"Where are my earbuds?" Jake countered, ceasing to shake. Only the quaver in his voice betrayed him.

"Here." Josh said in disgust, handing them to him. "What is up with you? Why won't you tell me? And what is wrong with you, hugging Rory like that? Were you dreaming of _her_ again?" Rory's deep blue eyes widen slightly in surprise at being dragged into a family argument.

"It's none of your damn business what goes on in my life, why don't you just back the fuck off for once and stop acting like my mother." Jake plugged in his earbuds again, cranking up the music even louder, as he buckled himself in, glaring out the window the whole time. Rory gave a worried glance between the two, before she decided to buckle herself in, in preparation for landing.

Still scowling at his brother, Josh also buckled himself in, glaring towards the doors off the plane.

Rory had never experienced this much tension between two people. Even in the sessions she had with her clients, not one of them had ever gotten to this point. And that worried her, clients, or people for that matter, always had anger linked to some type of loss, this type of anger had to be built up over a great period of time, that is unless there was an outside source fueling it…. And she didn't think Josh would stoop to that level, even if she only knew him for a very short period of time, Jake on the other hand… She didn't know him at all, at least not yet.

"Jake…" After a few moments of angry silence Rory knew one of them needed to talk. She grabbed a hold of Jake's arm to get his attention, "Do you want to talk about it? Not to push you or anything but it seems there's more going on under the surface then what just happened…"

He pulled out one earbud, just simply staring at her trying to process what she had said.

"Its none of your business" Jake sated looking away. After a few moments he turned back to her not able to keep to himself. "Josh always had to be the good son. Dad always liked him better. Be more like Josh, Jake. Stop arguing with your brother, Jake. Be mature, Jake. "Jake trailed off, quickly wiping angry tears from his eyes.

Patting his back trying to comfort him, Rory's suspicions were confirmed. Jake was feeling regret and apparently remorse, for things she didn't know of yet. There was an awful amount of pressure on Jake to do right, and yet he seemed to still be battling his own demons. At this point, Josh spoke, quietly, far gentler than he had just minutes before.

"I know, Jake. This is exactly why I want you to go to this convention. It's going to help you. See here Rory is a grief counselor, and one of the speakers at the convention"

Jake's eyes suddenly gleamed with anger at his brother's words " I didn't want to go. I hate you. Just back off and leave me **alone**" Jake whispered bitterly "I don't need your help, either of you" And with that, he slammed his earbuds back into his ears only to have the flight attendant come by with a worried look on her face to tell him to put it away since they were landing.

Several minutes passed before they were walking off the plane towards the baggage claim, Rory walking slightly in front of the two men.

Rory having only brought one other bag beside her carry on hoped that it had made it with this flight in, passed events had prepared her for the worst though.

Josh gave a cursory glance over Jake wanting to make sure he was 'here' and not being a space cadet at the moment. All seemed well so far. Glancing ahead he noticed Rory turn out of his vision into the baggage claim area. Both of the men sped up to catch up to the small blonde woman. Jake stopped next to her once he had finally found her among the crowd around the conveyer belt that carried their luggage around.

With luggage in tow the small group then headed over to the rent-a-car desk, Rory stepping up first to just fill out the small amount of paper work left for the car she had called ahead for.

"Well, I guess ill see you all another time. Promise me you'll stop by my booth tomorrow. It would really do me good to at least see some semi-familiar faces." She glanced over her shoulder as the clerk searched for the right keys. Catching Jake's brown eyes she gave him questioning glance only to be returned with a shrug of his shoulders. Josh on the other hand replied with a wide grin.

"Of course we will. Look, Jake why don't you give her your number so if she gets to lonely she can call us and meet up." Josh asked giving Rory a sidelong glance trying to gauge her reaction to the idea.

"Oh no. Its fine." Rory protested lightly trying to ignore the light blush that crept up her cheeks. Jake just ignored his brother stepping up next to fill out his own paperwork.

Rory paused; waiting for Jake to finish his papers so the three could exit together. Josh, not willing to let his suggestion go unanswered pushed for a response.

"Jacob Harris, I am talking to you. At least give me a yes or a no to show that you heard me and your head isn't in the clouds," he stated. Jake whirled around, an insane gleam in his dark eyes. Rory could see a vein in his temple throbbing, a physical sign of his anger.

"I WILL NOT. NOT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO ASHLEY! JUST GO AWAY! I'M TIRED OF YOUR STUPID ASS GAMES. JUST STOP TRYING TO HOOK ME UP. IM DONE! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" his speech over, Jake grabbed the keys from the clerk's hand and sprinted out.

Josh ran after him, but Jake was too fast. He was out the airport in no time, car going several times the speed limit. Josh ran his hand through his hair worriedly, pulling out his phone and calling Jake several times. No answer. Rory looked on, scared for Jake.

"He's gone." Josh said finally, "and I can't go get him, because I have to be at the hotel in" he checked his watch "thirty minutes. Damnit."

Rory asked where the brothers were planning on staying. Josh replied; it wasn't the same hotel Rory was staying at. Josh eventually sighed, writing his phone number on a corner of his rental receipt and handing it to Rory. "Here. At least you can contact one of us to make plans," He said. "I'll talk to you later."

Driving the rental car to her hotel where the convention was to be held, she couldn't help but think about the day's events: the casual conversation with Josh, Jake's bad dream, the intense fight and tension between the two brothers, Jake running away and the number scrawled on that little scrap of paper sitting in her purse. As she walked into the hotel room, she checked the time on the large clock on the dresser, which read 1:30. Her stomach rumbled as she decided to grab lunch at a nearby restaurant before crashing on the inviting bed and watching some TV.

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	3. ppre don't ask lol

**Hey hey, heres the next chappie. please do enjoy. and let us know exactly your thoughts on it please. and thank chanqsquawkzhang for co-writing this with me yet again.**

**Disclaimer is back in chap 1. so without further adue read on.**

Rory snatched up the directory off the small table by the door as she made her way out. Giving it a quick glance she decided on a small bistro three blocks away, just far enough to want to drive there.

The ride down in the elevator wasn't very exciting, matter of fact it was down right boring, out of the seventeen habitable floors not one person had got on to join her. Rory wondered if there was even anyone here. The elevator seemed to sigh as it finally got the lobby, opening its doors to let her out.

Walking towards the valet desk she waited patiently for her rental. It wasn't long before she was cruising down the street listening to the radio play a song that was well known. Without much of a thought she sang along enjoying the short ride. The light turned red as she came up to the last intersection before the bistro, if she leaned left just a little bit she could see it up ahead.

Suddenly, Rory felt lightheaded and queasy. The feeling lasted only for a few seconds, but Rory knew what it meant: trouble is on its way. As the light turned green, she gripped the steering wheel tightly with sweaty hands, knuckles white. Last time she felt this sensation was at a cookout, immediately before she was hit in the head by a lacrosse ball, causing her to black out and impale her arm on a knife.

A split second later, Rory was jolted sideways. Before her brain could register anything, she heard a loud crash, followed by a sickening snap. She sat there in shock for several milliseconds, then realized where she was, recalling the seconds that had passed before the accident. Dazed but not hurt, the woman reached for her purse before attempting to exit her car. However, the door would not open; the car that had sped into hers blocked it. The windshield was directly in front of her. Looking up at the driver, she was shocked to recognize none other than Jake Harris.

In his bloodshot eyes, Rory found fear, and pain. Caught unaware, the sight was almost unbearable. Becoming abruptly dizzy, Rory blacked out, hearing the sirens of approaching emergency vehicles.

Rory slowly gained consciousness, first sight, followed by feeling, her hearing being last to focus in what was going on around her. She couldn't quite remember what had happened, she was drawing a blank. The room she was in wasn't quite a room, more so a metal box with benches on either side, craning her neck around Rory noticed that there was a person in a jumper talking to someone else while checking a few machines.

The metal room was an ambulance, it had to be, and Rory couldn't draw any other explanation to her mind. But she didn't remember getting into any kind of accident. Hell last she remembered she was going to lunch, and then was going to prepare a speech for early the next morning, no way she, Rory Dumont, could be in a-a meat wagon on her way to the hospital.

With a grunt and a light head she sat up, pulling the paramedics attention to herself. Rory racked her brain; something seemed to be missing from this equation.

A soft but commanding voice told her,"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to lie down." Rory felt something press down on her shoulder trying to direct her back to the gurney. The paramedic gave her a sympatric look pressing a little on her shoulder.

Obviously choosing to ignore the woman Rory searched through her pockets and purse hoping there was something to help jog her memory. She extracted a slip of paper that was crinkled and slightly worn but none the less look like it was new.

On it was a phone number, below, the name Joshua Harris. Joshua. Josh. Harris. Josh Harris. There was something else. Rory knew that. John. Jeremy. Jack. Jake. Jake Harris. That was it. Brothers. Josh and Jake.

In the corner, the paramedic listened intently, focusing her attention on the small blonde stubbornly trying to gain a sense of her surroundings. Her eyes traveled to the small scrap of paper in the woman's hand. Approaching her ward, the woman saw the phone number and the name. The paramedic found the name strangely familiar, but a number was a number. Since Rory had no form of ID on her, she was what the medics considered a Jane Doe, an unidentified victim. Every effort must be made to contact any possible family or friends. As she lowered and wheeled out of the ambulance and into the emergency room, she caught a glimpse of a second gurney exiting an ambulance in front of her, connected to many different beeping machines and IV bags. The nurses wheeled her quickly into a room, where her temperature, eyes, blood pressure and pulse were checked. They asked her many questions: What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? What happened? Rory was at a loss. The only question she could answer was the first.

"Rory. My name is Rory," She kept repeating over and over. Racking her brain for answers to the other questions, she got a headache. She was transferred into a wheelchair and wheeled into a small room with walls of glass. She could see the gurney from earlier in the room to her left. Several doctors and nurses surrounded the patient. She watched as they poked and prodded, jabbed needles and drew blood. She shuddered; glad it wasn't her on that gurney. Meanwhile, a nurse took the scrap of paper still tightly clutched in her hand and called the number from the hall, whispering so as to not bother Rory or the doctors next door, now dashing in and out of the room.

She knew something just wasn't adding up, her own name was the only thing that could come to mind, and not even that was a full answer. The boy in the next room over tore at her heart for some reason she felt deeply for him. Maybe he had something to do with her situation, but seeing as she was better off then him maybe not.

The nurse walked back into the room with a somewhat relieved look on her face.

~The call~

Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket, confusion passed across his face as he read the caller id. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Josh?"

"Yes." It was the voice of a woman for sure, and she sounded very formal, that was never a good thing.

"I'm calling from John Hopkins Hospital. We recently had two unidentified individuals be brought in from a vehicular accident and we found your number on one of the individuals. I was wondering if you'd mind coming in to identify one if not both of them."

"I'm on my way." Josh was on his way out the door before she had finished talking. He closed the phone with a little more force then he should have as he hopped into his rental.

~Back in the room~

"Ma'am?" Rory slightly turned her head towards the nurse, her eyes still locked on the next room.

"I called the number you had, He should be here shortly." The nurse eyed her warily; maybe she should close the curtains between the two rooms. It was obviously bothering her on more then one level to be watching the young man.

With no further a due the nurse quickly closed the curtain.

An extremely worried Josh Harris pulled up to the ER of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Knuckles white and apprehensive about who the victim might be, Josh all but ran into the building. The nurse on duty directed him into a hallway. Walking into the glass hallway, the first thing he noticed was the half dozen doctors and nurses running in and out of a room. A nurse stuck her head out a door to his right and asked him if he was Josh.

"Yes, yes I am. Josh Harris" he replied, nervously running his hands through his dark hair. The nurse found him strangely familiar, but didn't ask any further questions.

"Here's the patient. She says her name is Rory. We believe her car was rammed by another car at an intersection. Both license plates have been traced back to a car rental based in Baltimore Washington International Airport." The nurse slowly opened the door, continuing "She has been diagnosed with a concussion, and is suffering amnesia, so she may not recognize you…" the nurse trailed off as Josh ran towards the hospital bed containing Rory.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Okay here we go guys~ thanks for reading this far and all. Disclaimers in chapter 1 so i think thats it please enjoy.**

"Shit, Rory. Are you okay? Obviously not, what the hell am I thinking." Rory's head turned towards the young man that was running towards her. The dark hair and eyes simply clicking thing in place within her mind. At least some of the things were coming together, because she deffently remembered him. Without realizing it she had started crying, and as Josh reached her bed he found himself with the younger woman in his arms.

"I don't know what happened Josh. I can't remember." Rory cried harder if possible. "I'm sorry that you were called. They shouldn't have called you. I barely know you." She couldn't help herself the tears just kept coming. Rory tried desperately to calm herself down.

"Shh, it's okay." Josh felt bad for her, she was all alone on the opposite side of the country, and at least he had his brother with him. He should give him a call, fill him in on what had happened and try to get him here so he could set up something or try to get in touch with Rory's immediate family.

"I know, but I can't remember something it feels real important, and I just can't remember, Josh." Rory pulled away, and looked down at her hands, which had settled in his lap.

Worry washed over Josh, as he glanced over at the nurse standing in the doorway. Noticing the look upon her face he gently set Rory down to talk to the nurse.

"I'm so sorry, to have to ask you this, but since both cars are from the same rental place and within the same time frame would you mind…" she trailed off looking over to the room next door as another doctor rushed out.

Josh ran his fingers through his short hair wondering if he would even be able to recognize anyone from today with everything that's happened.

Following the nurse to the other room, Josh tried to recall the other people who were at the rental place. None came to mind. As far as he could remember, they were the only ones there. Approaching the bed, Josh almost had a heart attack. His legs went jelly-like as he saw the patient. Hooked up to a dozen monitors and with tubes and needles sticking out every which way, Josh was painfully reminded of his father's last days. He staggered back, looking for a chair in which he could sink into.

"J-j-jake…what the hell happened?" he managed to get out.

The nurse asked, "Are you alright? So his name is Jake? How do you know him?"

Josh answered faintly "Yeah, his name is Jake, he's my little bro" The tears that he had kept at bay started to trickle down his cheek. "Is he gonna be okay?"

Rory watched from her room as Josh walked in and nearly collapsed. She saw him stumble into a chair and speak to the nurse. After what felt like an eternity, he stood and made his way to the bed, patting the young man's hand. Suddenly, it was clear to Rory who the patient next door was. She remembered a jolt, and Jake Harris' coffee eyes staring up at her.

The monitor beeped softly amongst the background noise of the hospital. Light gently streamed in through the curtained windows landing on the two inhabitants of the room. Rory who was laying in the bed closest to the window rolled over peeking out from behind her eyelids, groaned as the light hit her eyes. The other young male occupant started to cough unable to catch his breath before he coughed again.

Rory slowly sat up letting the blankets fall around her, as she glanced at the other person with a concerned look. She didn't' remember who it was in the other bed, but with a quick thought she reached for the nurse cal button.

"Hey…" She tried with a slightly broken voice. With another fit of coughs, the man sat up with great difficultly and glanced in her direction. Rory saw those coffee brown eyes and before she could think she was out of her bed and already next to his with a hand on his back trying to comfort him, "Calm down, it'll be okay. Want some water?"

Jake just simply nodded his head. Rory turned away to grab the small paper cup off her own tray when the nurse walked in carrying a pitcher and a few glasses. The nurse handed them each a glass filled with water and asked them how they were feeling.

Rory replied "A whole hell of a lot better" while Jake just gulped down the water. After he finished he seemed to notice his surroundings; the hospital room, the various monitors around him, and the multitude of tubes and wires surrounding him.

Starting to shake, he asked cautiously, "What happened to me? Why am I here? Why is _she_ here?" gesturing towards Rory. "Uuuurgh, I hurt like I've just been to hell and back…"

"You have" a voice remarked dryly. Three heads turned towards the door where a very relieved looking Josh was standing with a doctor, tousled hair indicating a very scant night of sleep. "Dr. Nefario just explained to me the extent of your injuries, Jake. Did you know that you were in a very serious car accident? You could have _died, _Rory could have died, and blood tests that they took showed that you were driving under the influence! You had so much in you that you could have died from an overdose hours later!" By this point, Josh was nearly panting, anger clearly evident in his dark eyes. Rory stared at Josh with worry while Jake sat there, his mouth agape with horror.

Rory slowly turned towards Jake while asking Josh and the doctor, "So what your saying is that Jake was high? That because of either mental or physical instability he almost committed murder?"

The doctor simply nodded his head to confirm her suspicions. Dr. Nefario could feel the tension in the air coming off the young man lying in the bed. With a few glances at the other two occupants of the room he informed them that he had a few other patients to check on and would be back shortly.

"Jake the doctor wants to do an evaluation, and I'm giving him permission. Since you don't seem to be in any state to make a decision." Josh informed him no sooner then the door had been shut. He knew he didn't have the heart to commit his brother to a mental hospital if it came to that, but it was better to know what the problem was so he could work with Jake to get through whatever it is.

Jake just glared at his older brother, he threw the covers off of himself, and moving with the IV and wires hooked up to him he made his way to the bathroom while giving the occupants of the room a nice glance at his white ass through the gowns back.

Pulling her gaze away for her roommate's ass Rory shook her head and wondered why she was wearing scrubs and not a gown. Wanting to change out of said scrubs she walked over to the other side of her bed and grabbed a bag sitting on the floor that contained her clothes.

An idea quickly ran through Rory's mind and before she could forget it she set her bag on the bed and pulled Josh to the side to have a word with him, "Look, I think this all has to do with your father…." She trailed off.

The grimace on his face told her he suspected the same. Nodding in encouragement she continued after shooting a glance at Jake, "There might be a possibility that I can help," a hopeful look flashed across Josh's face, "but. It's on my terms… and technically I need both your and his permission, so lets just skip that little bit of info. I mean I am legally certified to _**assist**_ in the healing process of a grieving person." Rory searched his eyes trying to find some type of disagreement.

Finding none, she continued, "What Jake needs is a wake up call. It is imperative that his mind returns to reality. Drugs that cause addictions, they distract the mind, having a tendency to cause the victim to obsess unnaturally over the substance"

Josh nodded. "So we should do something big, big enough to jolt him, scare him right?"

"Exactly!" Rory replied, glad that Josh had caught on. At that moment, a crash was heard coming from the bathroom. Both Josh and Rory stood up quickly to assist Jake, but a sudden bout of dizziness caused Rory to abruptly sit. Rushing to the bathroom, Josh knocked on the door. When there was no response he ran out into the hallway, calling one of the many nurses in.

"My brother, Jake, he was admitted here last night, he went to the bathroom and we heard a crash and he's in there and the door is locked" Rory could hear Josh screaming quickly. Within several seconds, the nurse burst in and with a master key, swiftly opened the door, revealing a tousled Jake lying on the floor.

"Mmmmehhhhh…" he muttered darkly "Someone help me up…"

Josh offered him a hand and pulled him up. When Jake swayed, Josh steadied him. Rory could see the worry in his eyes. She saw how much Josh cared about his brother, and how Jake was constantly pushing him away. Out of the two brothers, Josh was definitely the responsible one. He was more mature, and seemed to know the difference between right and wrong.

As Josh helped Jake back to his bed Rory turned towards the nurse, "When does the doctor say I'm allowed to be released?" The nurse walked over to the chart hanging on the end of the bed and picked it up and studied it for a few moments.

"Well it looks like after we do a small check up you should be able to go sometime this afternoon." Rory smiled slightly. With a quick look towards the brothers she inquired about Jake. "The extent of his injuries is a little worse than yours, but after a small check up I'll be able to give you a better idea of how long he should stay here." The nurse gave a slight nod saying shed be back within the hour with some food, water and the doctor.

Rory watched Josh as he helped Jake back into the bed, neither of the two making eye contact with the other.

**alrighty then thats it for this chapter review your comments and fav parts, so we know what there should be more of if anything... oh and jake/rory will pick up soon enough lol**


	5. Chapter 5

**hey**,

**Review thanks go to: TheGrizzYall, jdub13899, JakeHarrisLover, IrishCaptain, thecatchisdeadliest, ewab, Softball Angel, babygirl7201984, xoxToriLynnxox. like i said thanks for reviewin at all.**

**disclaimer's back in chapter one, without giving anything away read on my readers lol**

* * *

"Well Ms. Durmot, it seems that you are in a good enough condition to be released." Dr. Nefario said as he finished writing in the information on Rory's charts.

"That's great." Rory exclaimed. She quickly hoped off the bed picking her bag up that contained her clothes

Dr. Nefario continued "As for you, Mr. Harris…were going to keep you here under observation for five to six more days"

"FIVE DAYS? FIVE FRICKIN DAYS? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE? VEGETATE? " Jake Harris released his anger at his brother and Rory.

"Yes, Jacob. You are going to stay here. Vegetate if you want, but recuperate" Josh said, his voice steely "The doctors will be able to figure out exactly how much damage you've done to your body, and when you are well, you may leave this hospital and go to rehab"

Rory chimed in "It'll be good for you, Jake"

Jake only sat there like a child who had been denied a sweet treat, brow furrowed and pouting furiously.

Later, after the organizers of the convention allowed Rory to skip the event due to yesterday's events, she jumped into Josh's car.

"I feel so bad about just…leaving him there" Josh remarked "But I guess it's for his own good. How could I have not noticed? He was out there getting stoned and drunk, trying to cope with dad's death the wrong way and I didn't do anything about it"

Rory sighed, smiling "Josh you do care about him, more than you realize. You talk to him; you worry about him, all the time. I've only known you for less than 48 hours and I've seen that. Maybe you didn't see what he was doing to himself because you were trying to cope too." She glanced out the window as Josh made a turn.

"Yeah…" He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. Rory smiled in response.

"So, as we were talking earlier… As far as his rehab goes, I don't think it would be very productive. He could just walk out; I mean he may want to be there but if he can't mentally agree to be there against his addiction… In my opinion it seems like a very impersonal way to cope with the addictions and grief."

Storing her comment away in his head to think on for a bit Josh pulled up outside of a pizza hut. Putting the car in park he turned in his seat towards her, "You hungry?"

"Yeah, actually I am." She laughed slightly as her stomach voiced it own opinion. Josh just laughed a bit and started to get out of the car when his phone rang.

Rory didn't have a good feeling about the call; she knew it wasn't going to be good news. Meeting his gaze she asked who it was.

"I'm not sure." With a slight frown Josh answered the phone, "Hello… Jake? What the hell are you doing? You want me to do what?" Rory gave Josh an even more confused and worried look as he climbed back into the car signaling Rory to do the same, the phone still to his ear. "Why would you sign yourself out against the doctor's orders?" Josh wearily ran his free hand across his face and let out a sigh before pulling out of the parking lot.

"I'll meet you back at the hotel, okay?" Josh groaned, hanging up on his exasperating younger brother. To Rory he explained "Butthead Jake's decided that he's too good for rehab…he thinks that he can get over it himself…well, dad always said that he was a blow-it-off, pull-it-off kind of guy…"

Brow furrowed, Josh went silent, apparently thinking about his brother. Suddenly, he perked up "Hey Rory, didn't you say you had an idea? To scare him into ditching his addiction or something?"

Rory grinned, "I thought you'd never ask!" she exclaimed. Excitedly she turned in her seat to face him, "So here's what I'm thinking. Short of kidnapping him, of course, I can take him into my own custody and we can go from there. Granted there are many loopholes in the plan so far but what do you expect? I've been at this for a few hours"

Josh nodded at this "I've pretty much quit smoking since Dad passed, so maybe just pretty much strip him of almost everything, that should be a good shock. But then arises the problem of keeping him from it all."

The small blonde resumed from where he had left off, "Yeah that seems to be the real problem here…Hold that thought." Rory rummaged through her pockets pulling out her phone and proceeded to scroll though her contacts. Her face lit up as she started to dial one of her friends back home, while josh watched her with confusion written all over his face.

"Hey Jeremy! How have you been?" She gave Josh a thumbs up as the person on the other end of the line picked up.

"Look I have a favor to ask of you, think you could help me? No of course it's not anything illegal." Josh raised an eyebrow to this, " All I'm asking for is a house arrest bracelet, a friend of mine is going through a though time and his brother and me want to help him. Hm? Oh yeah, um i'm not sure what place we're going to keep him yet. But thanks so much I owe you one. I'll call you before we catch a flight home to let you know what house it needs to be set for. Bye."

Josh merely shook his head in amusement, "so how were you able to pull that off?"

"Jeremy's the sheriff back home and we grew up together. He'd do just about anything for me." Rory shrugged her shoulders. As she finished her tirade, the car pulled into the parking lot of the hotel that Rory was staying at. Thoughtful, Josh decided that he would have to agree with her plan. It seemed so powerful, and even absurd, that it might just work.

As she got out she leaned back down into the passenger window and gave one last little comment, "Hopefully by the end, he'll be clean…and maybe he'll realize how much his brother cares for him" She didn't say the last part aloud, but she knew that if Josh agreed to the plan, his brother would admit that, and much more to his hardworking older brother.

"Alright Rory, sounds like we have a plan. Call me tonight; you still have my number, right?" A quick rummage through her purse produced the scrap of paper that pretty much saved her in that hospital.

"Yup, I still have it" she replied "Talk to you soon!"

Rory turned away and walked in through the doors heading straight for the elevators to head up to her room to take a decent bath. After all that happened she defiantly deserved on that was for sure.

Shifting around the other people trying to get into the elevator she made her way down the hall to her room, barely missing a young boy as he made his way out of the room she had stopped at. Mumbling a sorry she went to walk through the open door into the room only to realize that it was open… It wasn't supposed to be last she checked. Stepping back Rory glanced at the room number and noticed it was her room, but the family trying to leave were most defiantly not she.

With a scowl Rory stomped back down the hallway and into the elevator, practically punching the lobby button every time it dared stop at another floor.

When the elevator finally descended to the right floor, the small blonde, who at that moment looked more like a lion tricked out of her prey stormed to the customer service desk. The people standing in line made way for her, warily eyeing her as if she was a bomb waiting to blow up. And in a way, she was. Approaching the poor clerk, she spoke, quietly at first, but warming up to a nice loud screech.

"What kind of hotel is this place? I just got back from a hospital all ready to take a nice nap and someone is in my room? A whole family? What the fuck are you people thinking?" without waiting for the person to answer, Rory continued, "You freaking double booked my room, didn't you? Numb nut! Fuck!"

Stalking out of the hotel with her belongings, Rory whipped out her phone and called Josh. Since her rental car was gone, she needed him to come pick her up. "Hey Josh, it's Rory. Yeah, I just walked in and found that the freaking hotel booked another family in my room. Could you come back and pick me up? I'm really sorry about this; I don't want to bother you or anything, but I don't exactly have a car right now…"

Josh, still driving sighed inwardly and thought, "Oh man, today's been horrible…" to the woman on the phone he said, "Alright Rory I'll be there in five minutes. Are you planning to stay where me and Jake are?" Rory confirmed this and soon, Josh was pulling up in front of the hotel.

"Well, I guess I'm not losing you anytime soon!" Josh joked in an attempt to brighten up her mood. It didn't work, not by a long shot.

With a calming sigh, at least for the moment, Rory turned to Josh, "I'm sorry, for everything. If had had caught an earlier flight you wouldn't have meet me and we probably wouldn't be in this situation…"

"Shit, don't say that," Josh interrupted her little speech, "You're supposed to be helping me save my brother. I mean I love him and all, but I don't think I would have done something besides the convention to help him. He may not seem it right not but he's a really sweet guy." She laughed slightly at Josh calling his brother sweet. He shot her a playful glare before pulling up to the hotel.

As the rode up the elevator to Josh's room Rory's thoughts drifted back to her own incident and started to get worked up again.

**Cookie for you if you know the doctor**.

**Review please~ let us know that you are there.**


	6. close your eyes!

**Okay before i let you contiue to read i have some slightly important info, there will probably not be an update next week or the week after because one if not both of us have very limited if any internet access :/ so just hang tight please.**

**Review/alert thanks: TheGizzYall, jdub13899, JakeHarrisLover, babygirl7201984, IrishCaptain (cookies for you lol), thecatchisdeadliest, Ex's and Oh's, kmf671, Dances-With-Pen, Disaray... If i missed someone im sorry, my inbox is a piece of crap, but if you review i will give lots of thanks :D**

**Disclaimer: chapter 1**

Searching for a joint, he lit up on the balcony. With each puff, the pain he felt gradually melted away. He sighed. Jake knew that this wasn't the way to live his life, getting high and wasted; his father had told him so, hadn't he? His father had always chided him when his childhood friends encouraged him to drink with them. Phil Harris knew what was right and what was wrong, and always made sure his kids knew that too. Jake was just too much; he would never listen. Sitting on the balcony, Jake had never felt so alone in his life. No one understood him, and his brother was always yelling. He heard the door open and sighed again, bracing himself for his bossy older brother's yelling.

Hearing more then one person enter the room Jake ignored his better judgment of letting them know he was there and continued to stare out over the city. I mean come on his own brother couldn't even make sure he was okay before bringing some random girl back to the room they shared. Jake took another long drag from the joint, relishing in the slight burn from his lungs as they asked for air.

There was a loud bang from inside the room as a bag made contact with the corner. Confusion found its way onto Jakes face, it sounded too angry to be a girl just tossing her bag to get it out of they way. Not yet wanting to give away his position Jake glanced over his shoulder to find Rory sprawled across his own bad staring at the ceiling, clearly pissed.

"She looks nice," he thought to himself as he let his eyes roam from her legs up her body to her face, "well besides the whole 'I'm pissed' look and vibes she was giving off." Giving a quick skim of the rest of the room he noticed the bathroom door to be closed, Josh must be in there. Giving his joint a final drag he put it out.

Rory let out the breath she was holding before laying her body relax a little more into the soft bed beneath her. It felt weird walking into the room occupied by the two men she met on the plane. Speaking of which… She turned her head from side to side trying to figure out the location of the other Harris brother that was supposedly here. A sudden movement caught her eye and she turned to see Jake Harris standing in the corner near the door that must lead to the balcony. A smirk on his face indicated he was up to no good.

"Hey babe, you look hot tonight" he said, still smirking "I guess I'm sorry I almost ran you over yesterday…man you look hot…" he trailed off, staring at Rory. Realizing what he must be looking at, Rory sat up quickly and looked at him properly since she came into the room. There were deep hollows under red eyes, and by the smell, he had recently been smoking. She wrinkled her nose.

"Jake, what have you been doing?" Rory inquired tentatively. She was worried he'd being doing drugs again. Jake didn't answer, just continued to stare at her. She felt uncomfortable, and was saved from the awkwardness of the moment by Josh emerging from the bathroom.

Upon seeing his brother, Josh ran and enveloped him in a big bear hug before chiding him for leaving the hospital against doctor's orders.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jacob Harris? Ugh and what's that smell? Don't tell me you've been smoking! There's something else though…what the hell have you been doing?"

Jake refused to answer the question, only shook his head and shrugged. Quickly switching to another topic, he asked "Hey where's the chick gonna sleep? 'Cuz she's welcome in my bed"

Josh, irritated by his younger brother's lack of respect spoke quietly, but dangerously "First of all, 'the chick' has a name. Rory. And second, she will sleep in my bed; I will sleep on the floor. If you dare touch her, I will personally ensure your most precious assets be ripped off"

At this, Jake backed up, and muttered assent. "Okay, okay, no need to get violent…I'm gonna go to bed now…"

"Have you brushed your teeth yet?" Josh asked.

"N-n-noooo…" Jake answered, "Fine, I'll go…mom…" the last word was barely whispered, but Josh caught it nevertheless.

"Shut up Jake!" he roared. To Rory he explained, "His teeth are horrible, between the smoking and whatever else he's been doing, he's been eating way to much sugar. He got damn cavities…"

In this exchange, Rory saw that Josh really did care about his brother, no matter how insolent and rude he could be.

"The real reason though is so we can plan a bit. I'm really sorry about how he treated you while I was in the bathroom- yes, I heard- so I'm thinking tomorrow morning? To, um, kidnap him? How are we gonna get him back to Seattle?"

"It'll be hard to do it here... I mean if we do it here that means we have to find a way to get him on a plane with out raising suspicion. And if we do it back in Seattle then all we'd have to do is slap a bracelet on and go on about our way right?" Rory rolled over to her side facing Josh that was sitting on his own bed. Pulling herself up into a sitting position to stretch she watched as the bathroom door opened to reveal a shirtless Jake.

Rory stood up as Jake made his way over to his bed, she grabbed up her bag before setting it down on Josh's bed. "Look why don't you sleep in your own bed tonight, I'm going to be up pretty late making some calls, and finding a flight back home. When are you guys leaving?"

Josh nodded his head in understanding, "Yeah, okay. But wake me up when you want to sleep. We're leaving tomorrow, around noon" He hopped up grabbing his own bag, "You don't need the bathroom do you?" Rory shook her head, "Alright I'm going to take a shower." With that said Josh walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Jake lounged back on his bed tucking his arms behind his head as he watched Rory rummage through her bag. As she bent to retrieve her phone, Jake caught a glimpse of her ass and whistled. Rory, annoyed by his antics marched straight over to him and slapped him across the face, hard. For his part, Jake raised his hands in defeat and rolled his eyes. Rory stepped out to the balcony with her phone in hand and anger in mind. After a hassling call to the airport, in which she just barely succeeded in getting a ticket home the next day without killing the clerk, Rory called her most trusted childhood friend, Jaime. When they were growing up, Rory and Jaime were inseparable, though polar opposites. Rory was the sensible one, while Jaime was wild and a stubborn tomboy. Now adults, Rory still relied on Jaime for advice, and Jaime remained dependent on Rory's common sense.

"Hey girl, what's up?" Rory asked wearily as a way of greeting "You'll never guess where I am right now."

Jaime, knowing the tone of Rory's voice that signaled she was near her breaking point asked Rory what the matter was. With a sigh, Rory explained her current predicament.

After a tense hour and a few choice words, Jamie now understood why she had called.

"Well if I was you, and were in a room with two delicious men…" Rory could almost hear Jamie licking her lips.

Rolling her eyes, Rory glanced over her shoulder into the room behind her. It had seemed Josh had already finished his shower awhile ago for he was now fast asleep in his own bed, letting her eyes travel over to Jake she noticed he appeared to be asleep in the same position when she had left him over an hour ago. "Look Jamie, it's late and my flight leaves at noon. Ill talk to you when I get home 'kay?"

"Yeah sure. Bye girl. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Jamie sighed in response before hanging up.

She only had one more call to make before she could retire herself, and glancing at her watch showing her it was 12:30, later then what she'd hope. But Rory scrolled through her contacts trying to find Jeremy, and decided to txt him her flight instead of calling him.

With all of her phone antics complete she turned off her phone walking into the room shutting the sliding door to the balcony behind her. Hooking her phone up to its charger she gave one last look at the boys before deciding a nice shower is just what she needed.

It was nearing 1:30 when she finally stepped out of the shower to dry herself off when she realized she forgot clean clothes. Well it could have been worse; she could have forgotten the towel as well. With a slight laugh to herself Rory wrapped the towel securely around herself, it fell just above mid thigh.

"Stop being such an idiot," Rory started to mumble to herself as she peeked her head out of the door, "they're both still asleep and if they weren't its not like I'd be a big deal anyway. What's a girl walking in a towel through a room she shares with them? Of course I'm not the shy type…. Why the fuck am I acting like this then." With that final proclaim Rory straightened herself up and strode out of the bathroom towards her bag.

While holding the top together Rory bent over and pulled her bag up onto the couch, which set her directly in front of Jake's bed. Retrieving a pair of underwear She slid them on underneath the towel, feeling much more at ease she dropped the towel completely keeping her back to the beds. Searching around she found a pair of gym shorts and pulled them on as well. Rummaging through her bag again she couldn't find the shirt she was looking for, "Hmmm, did I drop it?" She checked back in the corner she had thrown her bag and found a shirt, whether it was hers or not she didn't seem to care, and put it on while turning to check on the boys again.

Deciding not to bother the two brothers about the beds, Rory settled herself on the couch in the corner, falling into a fitful slumber.

While Jake thanked every god out there that he was not able to sleep.

**haha what a perv :p. anyway please review and just do your thing, tell us what you like or don't like or any questions... or anything like that, seriously... anything please.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay so i apoligize for this really long wait... I've finally moved into my dorm and she has gotten back for he trip so it should be going much faster then what it did... i thank you for sticking around and encourage you to keep reading.**

**Review/alert thanks: JakeHarrisLover, IrishCaptain, jdub13899, RetroGlam, muziqcrazy, FunInTheSun, inhumane22, TheGizzYall, and jaep**

**the disclaimer is back in chap one..**

She woke in the morning to the smell of coffee. Since her brain had already perked up as a result of the comforting aroma, Rory sat up.

"Morning Rory!" an achingly cheerful Josh remarked "Coffee?"

Rory accepted the proffered cup, sighing. Josh continued, "Bagels are on the table! Room service brought them up; they're pretty good. You know, you should've woken me last night. You deserve to sleep in a nice bed" he rambled on, not stopping "So what's the plan for today? Me'n Jake's flight back to Washington leaves at 2:30. How 'bout yours? Sorry I'm really talkative today; it's cuz I just had coffee and I haven't had it since opie season, and dad…." He trailed off a bit.

Laughing, the small blonde spoke "Well, for starters, my flight leaves at noon, and second, how do you survive without coffee between seasons?"

"Oh, I normally just drink Red Bull for caffeine!" He replied. "Hey, do you need a ride to the airport? I'll take you. It's always good to be there early."

"Um, that depends on what time it is." Rory gave another chuckle while running her hand through her hair.

"It would be 10:45. Hey where'd you get that shirt?" Josh inquired as Rory glanced down at the shirt she had picked up last night.

"The floor? Who's is it?" She pulled the shirt out to get a better look at the logo on it, still having no idea to whom it belonged.

A very confused and concerned look crossed over Josh's face, "I think its Jake's."

"Oh well, okay then. I guess I'll wear it today then." She slumped back with another laugh and continued with her coffee.

In the airport, with a very grumpy Jake in tow, Josh said farewell to his new friend. He waved as she boarded the plane. Jake only yawned, his attention focused on Rory's ass and his shirt, as memories from last night played through his head.

Settled in her aisle seat next to a snoring old lady, Rory reflected on her most recent adventures. She thought about Jake, the druggie who had almost killed her, and Josh, the epitome of older brother. Josh had told her to call him the next morning, after landing in SeaTac so they could plot against his brother. Not soon after the plane had landed and Rory caught a bus over to her lovely little house.

After cleaning up her house and unpacking Rory realized that it was already 9 in the morning and not wanting to eat just yet she located her phone and made her way to the living room. From her squishy couch, she dialed the number, still scribbled on the scrap of receipt she procured from her pocket.

"Hello?" A sleep muffled voice sounded on the other end.

"Hey Josh, I'm sorry if I woke you. But you told me to call?" Rory idly played with her nails as she heard Josh pull himself off of a couch or bed, the sounds of blankets being ruffled giving away that she had in fact woken him up.

"Nah, its cool. Needed to get up anyway. Have you talked to uh…Jeremy?"

"Yeah, I texted him last night. He said he can program the bracelet for us once we know the address of the place we're keeping him, so that's good. Then, one or both of us has to go and pick it up and we'll be all set" Rory settled herself on the couch in a more comfortable position "I think we should keep him at my place. He won't recognize it, and if we keep a blindfold on him or wear masks, he won't realize its us, either"

Josh nodded his head in approval "Sweet…Maybe Jake will learn a valuable lesson from this"

"He most definitely will" Rory agreed "Hey, talk to you later; I'm gonna call Jeremy now. Would you like to meet him? He'll probably end up coming over my house; he always does" Telling Josh her address, Rory smiled. It seemed like a new adventure was in the works.

Half an hour later, Jeremy knocked on the door with a cheery grin. Light-skinned and curly haired, his contrasting dark eyes shone with an interminable kindness. He was the kind of guy Rory's friend Jamie-and every other girl in the world- would fall for; his tall, slim figure was, in a word, beautiful.

"Hey Rory! How've you been feeling? Glad you're taking up this challenge to help this kid!" He greeted her quietly, voice calm and steady. She quickly reached up and gave him a tight hug before moving out of the way to let him in.

Smiling, she replied, "I've been great-mostly. My back still hurts a bit, but I'll live. And I'm glad you are being supportive of this; thanks for coming. Jake's older brother Josh will be here soon, so you'll meet him then" She led her friend into the small kitchen where she poured him a lemonade.

After a few short minutes of a highly condensed recap of her time in Maryland Rory had filled Jeremy in on all of the details, even some of the ones she had failed to tell Jamie. Which in itself wasn't weird, because unlike Jamie Jeremy was very collected, usually silent, reserving his speech and only giving a neutral opinion, while Jamie on the other hand more so forced her opinion on Rory most of the time. Rory could spend all day in silence with Jeremy. This was their way of trust. But when something important occurred, Jeremy wasn't afraid to voice his suggestions.

Jeremy sipped his lemonade thoughtfully. But before he could make any remark, the doorbell rang. He smiled; he was anticipating meeting this Josh Harris. The night before, he ran a background check, and it seemed like he had quite the history and background. Jeremy wondered idly if Rory was aware that her Josh was a TV star as he followed her to the front door. The petite woman opened the door; it squeaked. Framed by the door stood Josh Harris, beard not quite shaven, hair spiked and a smile showing his nervousness at meeting the sheriff.

The men exchanged greetings as Rory looked on. She was excited to put the plan in action.

After some light conversation about the weather, Rory decided to get down to business. "Okay. So Jeremy, do you have the bracelet?"

Jeremy nodded, in his quiet way. "Where are you keeping him? If it's here I can program it right now, else, we have to go to the location"

Rory wrinkled her brow. She hadn't thought of keeping Jake at her house, but he would recognize it if it were Josh's, and she didn't want to bother anyone else with harboring a drug addict in their basement. After voicing her opinions and weighing her options, she decided to allow Jake to stay at her house. After all, she did have a finished basement with a bathroom, which meant Jake would never have to come upstairs, and there was a lock on the door…

Josh seemed surprised that she would offer her basement to his brother, but he kept that to himself, putting off the feeling that something bad was going to happen. After all, he got that feeling quite often these days, didn't he?

**tell us whatcha be thinking lol**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh My Jesus guys i feel sooooo bad right now,. i feel like I'm the bad guy T.T i had gotten this from chanqsquawkzhang 2/3 weeks ago and it's just been sitting there waiting on me to do my part then post it. please forgive chapter isn't nearly long enough to make up for the wmount of time we've been making you wait but i hope we haven't lost our readers. I know one or two of you have sent messages asking if the story is still active and if i remember correctly i did reply... but i ask of you please keep reminding me/us. i do believe were up for suggestions on alot of the things that happen, i mean we have a general idea of where we want it to go.. Feel free to also ask question, and state your concerns. pester at least my inbox to make sure i'm keeping up with it lol**

**A reason why it hasn't been updated a lot sooner than it should have: me= i dropped out of school and have been trying to get my life straight. chanqsquawkzhang: she has a life too you know**

**I lost the list i had made of all the new people who have alerted this story but i do have the people who commented/reviewed last chap so imma throw out props to them even though who ever is reading this deserves props for staying with us for soo long truly sorry. :/ ~JakeHarrisLover, babygirl7201984, jdub13899, IrishCaptain, TheGizzYall, XBlack7WidowX, and GreaseStains... and jaep for pestering my inbox last time ( you didn't pester don't worry not mad ^~^ )**

**Obviously! we don't own the boys... too bad... what i would love to do to them.. 3**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Jake was resting his head against the arm of the couch he had fallen on the night before in his semi-drunk stupor. Different varieties of cans littered the floor in his vicinity. His pants hung rather low sitting about mid thigh his bright blue boxers clearly showing while his shirt was no where to be found. Wrenching open eyelids seemingly glued shut, Jake ran a hand over his face and turned into the couch trying to block out the light filtering in through the open window opposite the room.

His head pounded, throbbing in time with his heart. Struggling to remember the events of the night before, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to squeeze the pain away. Jake sighed. It wasn't helping. A low rumbling sound from his stomach reminded him that he was hungry, and Jake sat up slowly. A soft thump behind him registered faintly in his brain, but he wasn't in any state to react. The rough fabric of a burlap bag covered his face. It took the hung over man several seconds to realize what was happening. Jake's first instinct was to scream. He struggled as strong arms bound his hands together behind him, and as his legs were too tied together tightly. A soft voice whispered in his ear, dangerous. "You better not scream, boy. It won't help"

He contemplated compliance for a moment, then decided against it, taking as deep a breath as he could, he opened him mouth and screamed. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. The semi-darkness around him blurred, and then faded.

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The bright light was the first thing that awoke him, that and the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls. Jake rolled to his side feeling the carpet against his face. He jumped up suddenly from the floor in terror only to trip over the blanket that he had wrapped himself in.

The room he was in had pale blue walls and a white carpet that he himself had previously occupied. The leather couch was lying underneath a small widow on the opposite wall while a mahogany side table and coffee table were placed around it.

He was wearing only his boxers; there was a stack of clean clothing on the coffee table. He took these and put them on gingerly. Jake's head hurt, hell, everything hurt. Judging from the placement of the window and the amount of light streaming inside, he realized he must be in a basement. The faint smell of cinnamon buns again greeted him wafted from the stairwell to his left, and groaning, he crept up none too quietly. His legs felt heavier than bags of bricks. An unpleasant rawness on his leg prompted him too look down at the plastic bracelet around his ankle. "Oh Damnit. What the hell is this? Some sort of monitoring device?" he mumbled to himself. When he reached the top, Jake reached for the doorknob. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was locked. Panic and fear began to seep into his chest. Up until that point, he had almost accepted the situation, if only out of stupidity. He remembered the pain in his arm, and the creepy voice warning him not to scream. Jake looked down at the forlorn bracelet again. He knew it would be hard, if not impossible to get out. The young man began banging on the door. What if he had been kidnapped? Where was he, anyways? His stomach reminded him he was hungry, and out of habit, he reached into a pocket for some smokes. Finding none, he let out a yell of fury.

Upstairs, Rory was checking the oven for the cinnamon buns when she heard the strangled yell of Jake Harris coming from the basement. "Good, Mr. Sleepy-pants is up" she thought, and went to wake his brother, who was snoozing on her couch. Untying the apron from around her waist, Rory hung it on the hook by the doorframe in passing, and continued her way into the living room at the front of her house.

"Josh," Rory gently shook the figured draped across her own couch in the front room. "Josh…"

"Ten more minutes…." He pushed her hand away out of habit not really registering where he was.

"Your little brother is up. I'm heading down to check on him and serve him breakfast. Are you coming or not?"

"Alright, I'm coming. Where'd you put those masks? His fat ass better appreciate those delicious smelling cinnamon rolls…" Josh replied, crawling up and reaching for the plate on the counter.

"Hey! Those aren't for you! There's some on the counter, but those are for later" Rory slapped his hand away, and handed him a Darth Vader mask, which he slipped over his head. "Here we go…"

Josh opened the door slowly, not sure if Jake was behind it waiting on the steps. Quiet as a mouse, he tiptoed down the stairs, Rory following him. She made sure to close the door behind them, locking it in case Jake decided to run for it. She felt the cold key in her pocket.

"You!" Josh spoke carefully, but forcefully. His direct tone made Rory shiver. She heard Jake jump up in fear.

Jake POV

The dark figure pointed at me. Behind him was another. Both wore masks.

"Who are you?" I asked. "Why am I here? What have you done?" My voice got louder by the second.

The first one, wearing the star wars mask, pointed at me accusingly.

"Do you really think we are going to answer that? No. But I will tell you why you are here. You have done wrong and must learn a lesson. This is your punishment. Accept it. You can't get away from here"

Infuriated, I stepped forward, almost nose to mask. "And who are you to say that? I want a cigarette, now!" I screamed. That headachy feeling when I haven't smoked was starting to build up.

"No. You will not. There is no smoking inside" He said.

"Gimme a damn smoke!" I yelled. Without thinking, I slapped him across the face.

The other person, a woman, I assumed based on the ponytail sneaking behind her own Yoda mask, spoke "That's enough. Do you want food or not? You can starve, I have nothing against that, but you will NOT mistreat Mr. Darth Vader there"

"What the fuck do you care! Just let me the fuck out of here." Pushing forward past Ms. Yoda, who had moved forward to stand between Darth and myself, I headed for the stairs. Only three more steps…

"Shit." I groaned from my position on the ground. Rolling over to lie on my back I saw Yoda with her arms crossed. Following the length of her body down to the source of my fall I found her foot pinning the hem of my pants to the floor. Looking back up her legs to her torso then finally her 'face' his pants became slightly tighter. Yoda posture immediately changed, he knew for a fact that if that mask weren't there would be an eyebrow raised.

"Wow… really? Does Star Wars give you a hard on? This is classic." Vader broke out into a peal of laughter after seeing Jake's predicament.

With a scowl I sat up quickly pulling my pants from underneath Yoda's foot. Moving over to the couch I snatch up a cinnamon roll and angrily take a bite from it, the gooeyness stopping me in my tracks I sighed in delight. "Damnit this is good…"

Watching me with her arms crossed from across the room was Yoda, leaning on the wall next to Vader, who was slouched near the stairs, ready to catch me if I ran. Even through the mask I could tell she was staring me down intently; her eyes were like fire, burning through my soul. What could she be thinking about?

Rory POV

This kid…what the hell was he thinking? Even though I made that comment about his unfortunate erm…situation as a joke, I was totally serious. Josh's brother really does have some issues with his life! Here is some stranger, he's living in my basement forcibly, and he's a druggie, smoker and sex addict? Never in a million years would I have dreamed of myself in this situation, yet here I am now. Just look at him, eating his cinnamon roll like an animal, tearing it apart with his teeth, crazed look in his dark eyes. As he finished his breakfast, I finished my pondering and went to retrieve the plate. I glanced at Josh, waiting by the stairs. He nodded, and I reached out for the plate. Picking it up and wiping the crumbs off of the table onto it, I turned and headed up the stairs.

"We'll be back, there's a bathroom down the hall on the left." Josh said before following after. The last thing I saw as I was closing the door to lock it back up was Jake glaring up at me from the bottom of the stairs.

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